Autism Awareness

Kudos to my area media stations that have joined together to bring awareness to the public about Autism. Their coverage and featured families touched my heart.

Although, it has been years, I often wondered if my toddlers' behavior might have been victim to autism. Seemingly exceptionally bright, her uncontrollable tantrums out of nowhere, and obsession with counting, sometimes left me perplexed. I was fortunate enough to only have experienced the terrible twos early. But for many, the families of autistic children are often falsely informed about behavioral treatments and misdiagnosed. Early intervention seems to be critical.

There are new guidelines now that screening be done between 18-24 months old, although some autistic children are diagnosed between the ages of two and three years most are not diagnosed until age four. I always was fearful of the possibility during those early years.

Autistic children often have trouble with verbal and non-verbal communications, social interactions, and may not be affectionate with others. Mine did not have any of the signals, she was very verbal, in fact, I swear she could read when she was two years old. However, she had a real problem with social interaction with her peers and any environmental changes. Perhaps because she was an only child in an all adult environment. At age two she literally failed the day care social environment and I was advised to give her 6 months to try again.

The symptoms of the disorder affecting the brain vary widely, two children with the same diagnosis may act quite differently and have different skills.

I'm not sure if the fact that we acquired our first family puppy when she was age three could have been an intuitive intervention or not, but like most autistic children, she related very well to our dog. An estimated one out of 150 children has a disorder related to autism according to a 2007 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and a growing number of parents are looking to service dogs to provide protection and companionship for their children.

More than 24,000 children will be diagnosed this year in the US alone. There are many success stories that involved early diagnoses, intervention, and constant communications. There is still so much unknown and more to be done to understand and combat this disorder. Ironically, just this week, a court ruled in a case of a possible vaccine connection between childhood vaccines and autism. A unique but rare situation associated with the disorder.

The Autism Society of America publishes a newsletter, sends monthly emails, and maintains a good website where parents can get information. Another good site which is being promoted by our local media is AutismSpeaks.

An Ugly Day

I am not used to experiencing ugly days very often where I reside, so today I can call it downright ugly. Can the weather really affect our feelings? I have had sad thoughts. Loved ones gone, kids grown up, and good times gone by. Can the weather really affect our emotions?

Although scientists and my doctors have nothing to prove it, I know for a fact that bad weather affects my knees. Is it common when the skies are rainy and gray, so are our thoughts and feelings? Well today I feel sad and can only blame the weather. Tomorrow should be better, the weather man says it will be...if you can believe the weather man.

You Tube, Hulu, and Me

Today, I have been on line most of the day, it all started with checking the Blogger Buzz and taking a look at the new videos put up on You Tube. One thing led to another and before you know it, I now have an account with You Tube. Great alternative tool for those of us who spend hours reading tutorials. I also checked out Hulu.com to see what the buzz was on the movie viewing scene. Nice, too. It's pretty cool and I recommend it to any movie or TV enthusiasts. I spent too much time there, but this is all contributing to my learning goals. As I spend countless hours of this new found hobby, when will it be time for me to give up the newbie title? From what I have read, it's a title I should ditch but there is so much to learn. Mind you, I didn't even know what a blog was in January. Every other day, I strive to learn something new and at that rate it will take my lifetime. More later on my web adventures.

Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Jim Carey as Horton

After a long day at work, finally something to smile about. Watching American Idol tonight, what a hoot it was to see Jim Carey in a Horton costume promoting the movie opening of Horton Hears a Who. Ding, the bell went off in my head for costume design. Can't wait to see the movie for more ideas.

Many animated movies produce the years hottest costumes. Horton and the Whos will obviously be favorites this year. Here is a list of more movie releases projected for 2008 with great costume potential.

• KungFu Panda promises some unique jungle critters.
• Incredible Hulk
• Wall-E - animated robots with personality
• Space Chimps
• Madagascar
• Harry Potter

Only time will tell which one will be most popular this year.

2008 Year of the Blogger

I found an interesting article during my browsing from The Wall Street Journal about blogging that I thought was extremely interesting and wanted to share.


I am conquering my internet fears one step at time and having a blast doing it. The past two weeks, have been productive for me, creating blogs, affiliate accounts, and my own web store. I love this new venture. All are work in progress and I've made mistakes along the way. I can't find enough time to take advantage of all the opportunity the internet offers. How do I begin to decide when too much information is enough. With all the gurus out there, it's a bit intimidating and looks like I have lots to learn.

With help, I've learned how to include search bars, ads, pictures, and video to my blog, I am so proud. This community is willing to offer help, you are fantastic. With baby steps, I am beginning to understand WYSIWYG and take advantage of all the resources available that are free. The tutorials on Google are great too.
My social network professional forum has been extremely helpful including the 697 emails in two days. There seems to be no end as to what is available, free or for a price.

I hope to find my niche soon and make 2008 my year of the blog. Thanks again to all for your continued support. You know who you are. Until next time.

Golden Retriever Puppies on Video

Today cruising the net, I found adorable videos of golden retriever puppies that tugged at my heartstrings. It seems like they all have such big litters. After the heartache of loosing our big dogs years ago, we thought we were destined to be cat owners for life. Our floors were renovated to wood leading us to believe it would be impossible to keep a big dog indoors. Not only bad for the floors but uncomfortable for a large breed dog. These little guys and gals seem to be doing just fine on the wood floors.

The picture of my earlier post is my cousins' golden that I fell in love with when visited him recently. He did like to chew everything in sight though. I keep weighing the sleepless nights, early morning nature calls, and the expense to keep them healthy versus companionship, unconditional love, and sense of security a dog could provide.

I have always been a German Shepherd owner, but this breed is calling me..loudly calling me.
Oh no.

Puppies Rule

Did you say it's a cats' life?
Look at my face!
Dogs rule.

Buddy